1. Filed of the Invention
This invention relates to a device that allows the steering of an industrial vehicle by a driver who steers with the open palm of a hand. More specifically, it relates to a device that is affixed onto a steering wheel of an industrial vehicle thereby providing an ergonomic alternative to the standard steering wheel of a fork-lift truck or other industrial vehicle.
2. Background and Related Art
There is a wide variety of work done and products available that are related to steering wheel aids. Most prior patents concerned with improvements and steering wheel accessories are for automobile steering wheels. The concern in many of these cases is appearance.
The devices of the prior art, including U.S. Pat. No. 5,289,736 to Fujimori are gripped or grasped by the driver to steer a vehicle. In the case of ""736, the apparatus is designed to enable a vehicle to be steered by a physically handicapped person. Another example of a steering wheel attachment apparatus is seen in U.S. Pat. No. 5,520,071 to Jones. The apparatus of ""071 relates to hand control devices for driving when the driver is handicapped and needs hand controls instead of the usual foot control pedals used when driving an automobile. In both of these examples, the steering wheels must be gripped.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,776,064, Rose discloses a steering wheel control device that is designed to enable one-handed manipulation of an automotive steering wheel. The device described in ""064 is unsafe for the driver of an industrial vehicle as a user""s hand is not easily and quickly removed from the grasping position in the event that a quick reflex or response from a driver is required. The current invention allows the driver to easily slide the hand quickly to the steering wheel rim if required.
Due to the popularity of the automobile in today""s culture, there are many steering wheel attachments, such as covers or spinners, that are available for drivers. There are many sites on the world wide web, including http://wwwjcwhitney.com that advertise and sell a variety of such things.
In the instant invention, the steering device is designed to relieve the stress and strain on the arms of a forklift driver by allowing him to keep his hand flat on the device, and steer it comfortably. Oftentimes, the driver uses the palm of his hand to steer the forklift as opposed to having to grasp the steering wheel around its rim. In this case, the device supplies the driver a way to steer the vehicle with less applied force since the device of this invention is bearing-loaded and requires less force to steer the vehicle. The rotating pad which the driver controls is cushioned and moves with ease.
Steering a forklift requires training, skill and experience since a loaded forklift weighs hundreds, or even thousands, of pounds more than a car. This makes it harder to steer and stop than a car. On a properly maintained forklift, the steering wheel should move smoothly, with no slack or play; that is, no free movement in the steering wheel before the wheels start to turn.
In many cases, drivers of industrial vehicles such as forklifts experience frequent injuries to their wrists, arms, and shoulders. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has documented countless examples of such work-related injuries. More specifically, Oregon OSHA forklift recordable injuries from the last five years show that over 12% of all forklift injuries are due to wrist, arm, elbow, and shoulder over-exertion and repetitive motion injuries. As such, it would be of great benefit to many American industries to eliminate the cause of such problems.
Further examples of the problems involved with the difficulty in grasping are related to various wrist, thumb and finger disorders that are common today. There has been much written about carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). In recent years, reports of repetitive motion injuries have risen dramatically in workplaces around the country. According to the National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety (NIOSH), these problems, frequently termed cumulative trauma disorders, are being reported at all types of workplaces from meat packing plants to newspaper pressrooms.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, disorders associated with repeated trauma account for almost 60% of all occupational illnesses. Of these disorders, carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is the condition most frequently reported.
The carpal tunnel is so named from the eight bones in the wrist, called carpals, that form a tunnel-like structure filled with flexor tendons which control finger movement. It also provides a pathway for the median nerve to reach sensory cells in the hand. Repetitive flexing and extension of the wrist may cause a thickening of the protective sheaths which surround each of the tendons. The swollen tendon sheaths, or tenosynovitis, apply increased pressure on the median nerve and produce the painful swelling of CTS.
Although the various causes and symptoms of CTS are not relevant to this patent application, the fact that it is widespread and causes finger pain, tingling and the inability to properly grasp objects is indeed relevant. The discomfort is most often felt in the thumb, index, and ring fingers and is frequently accompanied by the inability to squeeze or grasp things. In advanced cases, the muscle at the base of the thumb atrophies and strength is lost.
CTS is caused by performing job tasks that involve highly repetitive manual actions of the hand that necessitate wrist bending or other stressful wrist postures. The use of vibrating tools, small parts assembly, finishing, sewing, and cleaning are thought to contribute to the occurrence of CTS. Although vehicle steering does not itself appear to cause CTS, it is certain that the grasping action required to steer an industrial vehicle cannot be performed by a worker who suffers from the disorder.
Oftentimes, a person suffering from CTS will have his wrist immobilized in a splint to minimize pressure on the nerves. Such wrist immobilization would not allow the person to perform such duties as steering an industrial vehicle if his hand would have to grasp a steering wheel or a steering wheel knob.
Although carpal tunnel syndrome is the most widely-known wrist disorder, there are numerous other disorders of the wrist that make grasping difficult or impossible. In fact, there is a web site devoted to it: http://www.wristpaincentral.com. Other disorders listed here and in other sites of the web include DeQuervain Tenosynovitis. This disorder is tendonitis of the wrist which causes quite a bit of pain and would prohibit the grasping motion necessary to steer an industrial vehicle without this invention.
Another wrist disorder is known as intersection syndrome. This disorder causes both pain and swelling in the wrist. It affects the thumb side of the forearm where the two muscles of the thumb and forearm cross over, or intersect, two underlying wrist tendons. It is caused by overuse of the wrist and hand from wringing, grasping, turning, and twisting motions which cause irritation of the synovium and tendons. Reported cases involve repetitive and/or heavy use of the wrist.
Furthermore, the steering device of this invention, when properly attached to the steering wheel of an industrial vehicle, has a larger area on which the driver""s hand can rest, adding to the ease of steering and comfort. In this way, the angle of the wrist is at a neutral position and the steering wheel does not have to be grasped by the driver""s hand to steer the vehicle.
An additional safety feature of the device of this invention is that its location on the lowest part of the industrial steering which wheel discourages several common workplace accidents related to steering industrial vehicles. While steering the vehicle, ties or other articles of clothing may get caught around a steering wheel, leading to loss of control of the vehicle by the driver. Hands and fingers have been broken by the protruding nature of prior art steering devices.
The steering device of the instant invention does not substantially protrude above the steering wheel, thus making it a safer one to operate. The device does not substantially protrude above the steering wheel because it is custom-fit to a particular industrial vehicle""s steering wheel. More specifically, if the industrial vehicle is a forklift, each forklift manufacturer designs a particular forklift steering wheel specifically for each of their forklift models.
For instance, the steering wheel design of HYSTER(copyright) is different than the steering wheel design of TOYOTA(copyright) which is different than the steering wheel design of NISSAN(copyright) and so forth. In this invention, each steering device has to be specifically designed for a particular forklift manufacturer""s vehicle. Since each steering device is designed for a particular forklift steering wheel, its design has been optimized for that particular wheel so that it does not substantially protrude above the steering wheel. The prior art is either attached to the steering wheel rim or replaces one of the steering wheel spokes and it is not custom fit to a particular vehicle manufacturer.
The current invention is constructed in such a way that it fits into the corner of a steering wheel where the spoke meets the rim. It attaches to both the steering wheel rim and steering wheel spoke simultaneously so that it does not protrude substantially above the steering wheel rim and yet provides a very rigidly supported device.
The clamping area of the steering device that attaches to the rim and spoke are the exact shape of that part of the steering wheel. Once the steering device has been put onto a steering wheel, it has the appearance of being an integral part of the steering wheel due to its custom fit design. The prior art has an appearance of being an add-on to an existing steering wheel.
The device of this invention is an ergonomically designed steering wheel aid whose design allows the steering of an industrial vehicle while the driver keeps his hand flat on the device. Unlike prior steering devices, the one of this invention is custom fitted to a particular industrial vehicle. Once fitted for a particular vehicle, any driver of the vehicle may use it correctly and comfortably without further customization.
Since the amount of disabling industrial wrist injuries from carpal tunnel syndrome and the like is on the rise, this invention is seen as a major advancement in industrial health and safety.